Mario Stanić

Mario Stanić
Personal information
Date of birth (1972-04-10) 10 April 1972 (age 52)
Place of birth Sarajevo, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Winger
Forward
Team information
Current team
 Shakhtar Donetsk (assistant)
Youth career
0000–1988 Željezničar
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1992 Željezničar 63 (17)
1992–1993 Croatia Zagreb 26 (11)
1993–1994 Sporting Gijón 34 (7)
1994–1995 Benfica 14 (5)
1995–1996 Club Brugge 37 (27)
1996–2000 Parma 77 (19)
2000–2004 Chelsea 59 (7)
Total 310 (93)
International career
1991 Yugoslavia 2 (0)
1993 Croatia U21 2 (1)
1995–2003 Croatia 49 (7)
Managerial career
2023– Shakhtar Donetsk (assistant)
Medal record
Representing Croatia
Bronze medal – third place FIFA World Cup 1998
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Mario Stanić (born 10 April 1972) is a Croatian former professional footballer. A versatile offensive player, he played in forward or attacking midfield positions, and was also deployed as a wing-back in the Croatia national team. He is currently assistant manager at Shakhtar Donetsk.

Club career

Born in Sarajevo, Stanić started his career with hometown club Željezničar. He was considered to be one of the most talented young players in former Yugoslavia. In 1992, war in Bosnia and Herzegovina began and Stanić escaped to Slavonski Brod wading the Sava and moved to Croatia, where he played for Croatia Zagreb. After only one season, he moved to Spanish Sporting de Gijón, and year later to S.L. Benfica in Portugal. In 1995, he arrived at Club Brugge and was top scorer of the Belgian First Division that year with 20 goals. Then Parma bought him in late 1996 and he played four seasons with that side.

Chelsea

Stanić joined Chelsea on a £5.6 million transfer in June 2000. He became Vialli's third signing, after Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Eiður Guðjohnsen.[1] Stanić made his league debut in a 4–2 home win against West Ham United in August 2000, where he scored a brace, one of them a strike from 35 yards.[2] The goal was later nominated for the Goal of the Season on BBC's Match of the Day programme.[3]

International career

After playing twice for Yugoslavia in 1991, Stanić won 49 international caps and scored seven goals for the Croatia national team between 1995 and 2003,[4] making his international debut in a UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying against Estonia in September 1995. He made three appearances for Croatia at the Euro 1996 finals in England and went on to appear in all of the team's seven matches at the 1998 FIFA World Cup finals in France, where they won the bronze medal. At the latter tournament, he scored Croatia's first-ever World Cup goal in their opening 3–1 victory over Jamaica and assisted in Robert Jarni's opening goal in their 3–0 victory over Germany in the quarterfinals. Stanić also made two appearances for Croatia at the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals as a second-half substitute, only to see Croatia fall short of qualifying for the second round of the tournament. His last international appearance came in April 2003 as a half-time substitute in a friendly match against Sweden.[5]

He was forced to retire at the age of 32 after developing a serious knee injury during the 2003–04 league season.

Career statistics

Club

[6][7]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Željezničar 1988–89 Yugoslav First League 0 0 0 0 – – 0 0
1989–90 14 0 0 0 – – 14 0
1990–91 28 1 1 0 – – 29 1
1991–92 21 11 5 1 – – 26 12
Total 63 12 6 1 0 0 0 0 69 13
Croatia Zagreb 1992–93 Prva HNL 26 11 9 8 – – 35 19
Sporting Gijón 1993–94 La Liga 34 7 4 3 – – 38 10
Benfica 1994–95 Primeira Divisão 13 5 1 0 1 0 – 15 5
Brugge 1995–96 Belgian First Division 30 20 5 4 1[a] 0 4 1 40 25
1996–97 7 7 0 0 0 0 6 1 13 8
Total 37 27 5 4 1 0 10 2 53 33
Parma 1996–97 Serie A 13 3 – – – 13 3
1997–98 23 4 5 1 – 4 0 32 5
1998–99 18 7 7 0 – 6 0 31 7
1999–2000 24 6 1 0 0 0 9 4 34 10
Total 78 20 13 1 0 0 19 4 110 25
Chelsea 2000–01 Premier League 12 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 15 2
2001–02 27 1 4 1 2 0 2 0 35 2
2002–03 18 4 3 1 2 1 2 0 25 6
2003–04 2 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 5 0
Total 59 7 9 2 6 1 5 0 80 10
Career total 310 88 42 17 3 0 34 6 400 114
  1. ^ Appearance in Belgian Super Cup

International

Goal Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 10 April 1996 Gradski vrt, Osijek  Hungary 4 – 1 4 – 1 Friendly
2–3 22 April 1998 Gradski vrt, Osijek  Poland 2 – 0 4 – 1 Friendly
3 – 0
4 14 June 1998 Félix-Bollaert, Lens  Jamaica 1 – 0 3 – 1 World Cup 1998
5 21 August 1999 Maksimir, Zagreb  Malta 1 – 0 2 – 1 Euro 2000 Qualifying
6 9 October 1999 Maksimir, Zagreb Federal Republic of Yugoslavia FR Yugoslavia 2 – 2 2 – 2 Euro 2000 Qualifying
7 26 April 2000 Ernst Happel, Vienna  Austria 2 – 1 2 – 1 Friendly

Honours

Croatia Zagreb

Club Brugge

Parma

Chelsea

Croatia

Individual

Orders

References

  1. ^ "Chelsea sign Croatian star". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 28 June 2000. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  2. ^ "Stanic brace sinks Hammers". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 20 August 2000. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  3. ^ "Super Mario arrives". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 15 May 2001. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  4. ^ Mario Stanic - International Appearances - RSSSF
  5. ^ "Player Database". eu-football.info. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
  6. ^ "Stanić Mario statistics". bdfutbol.com. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  7. ^ "Dinamo". Povijest.gnkdinamo.hr. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
  8. ^ "ODLUKU KOJOM SE ODLIKUJU REDOM DANICE HRVATSKE S LIKOM FRANJE BUČARA" (in Croatian). hrvatska.poslovniforum.hr.
  9. ^ "PREDSJEDNIK TUDJMAN ODLIKOVAO HRVATSKU NOGOMETNU REPREZENTACIJU" (in Croatian). hrt.hr. Archived from the original on 8 November 2016.